


the most natural thing in the world

by littlesaintmick



Series: what we need [1]
Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Alpha Dean Ambrose | Jon Moxley, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, First Time, M/M, Mating, Omega Roman Reigns, Vaginal Sex, everything is bad but family is most important just keep that in mind here, in-character fic, oh boy this is just a lot of stuff innit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:14:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22585438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlesaintmick/pseuds/littlesaintmick
Summary: family, however you find it, is what's important in the world.
Relationships: Dean Ambrose | Jon Moxley/Roman Reigns
Series: what we need [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1625143
Comments: 9
Kudos: 41





	the most natural thing in the world

**Author's Note:**

> no i don't know why i wrote this yes this will probably have more than one chapter
> 
> YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO POST/REPOST ANY OF THIS FAN WORK, FULL OR IN PART, OR TO USE IT IN VIDEO/DISCUSSION, WHETHER FOR MONETARY GAIN OR NOT. LEGAL ACTION WILL BE TAKEN AGAINST VIOLATIONS.

It had been a week. 

Well, six days. Tomorrow would make it a week. A week of crying, a week of pain, a week of anger and outbursts, a week of holding Dean tight to keep him from hurting himself. A week of Roman wanting to wrap his hands around the necks of every member of the Authority for putting Dean in that space. Roman wasn’t necessarily handling Seth’s actions well either, but he tried to hold himself together, for Dean more than anything else. More than for himself. He would sneak away to be angry, he would be too angry in the ring, but when he and Dean were alone at night and through the day, he knew he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t be mad around Dean right now, not for a long while, probably. Dean would think Roman was angry at him, and Roman wasn’t mad at Dean.

He was mad at that slimy little bastard who he once called his brother. 

Roman was waiting for Dean, now. Dean had had to go talk to someone-one of the girls, probably, Dean and Roman had made friends with lots of the girls ever since they got out from under the hand of the Authority. It was….nice, to have friends. Roman sighed, rubbing at his eyes. He’d changed out of his gear already, into comfortable shorts and a tshirt, and one of Dean’s hoodies. They’d been sharing clothes for three years, it wasn’t a huge deal at this point. Roman felt a strange sensation very suddenly; it bloomed around his hips, the same place where he felt his periods start, but it wasn’t like that. It felt almost like-

“Ah!”

Roman cried out, falling to his knees on the ground, spreading his legs, his hips jerking. It was the same bloom that happened near the peak of his heat, but-Roman’s heat wasn’t set to hit for at least another three months. And he had had a steady cycle his entire life; the first heat of the year would hit in March, and his second would come in September. It was only late June, now, and there was no reason for him to be feeling the overbearing warmth and arousal currently shooting through his entire body like electric shocks. He stayed kneeling on the floor, already feeling his mind cloud over with the fuzzy, somewhat lost feeling that heats brought. 

“Whoa-what the hell?”

“Roman?”

Roman looked up at the sound of his cousins' voices, and he felt tears spring to his eyes.

“Please-I need to get out-”

“I’mma go get Dean-”

Jimmy ran out of the locker room, and Roman distantly heard him calling Dean’s name. Jey came to Roman’s side, kneeling with him, putting his hands on Roman’s shoulders. 

“Hey-it’s gonna be okay, uce, don’t worry-”

“I heard Jimmy running around like there was a fire, what-Roman? What happened?”

Naomi’s voice was sweet and soft and Roman whined, looking up at her, still sobbing. He couldn’t keep the cries in, his body hurt-he felt so desperately empty, and the only alpha near him was Jey, which meant there was a non-reaction to his pheromones; he was far too closely related to Roman for Roman to feel any sort of satisfaction from his presence. Naomi sat with him as well, and he noticed her sniffing him. 

“I thought your heat wasn’t supposed to be for another month or two?”

Roman whined and leaned on her, trying to soak in as much of her comforting, warm scent as he could, hoping the pheromones from a fellow omega would soothe him. 

“I-’s not-don’t know what ha-ah!”

Roman bucked his hips again, slick damn near flooding out of him, and Naomi wrapped her arms around him, holding him close, letting him press his face against her neck.

“It  _ hurts _ -”

“Don’t worry, honey, we’ll get you fixed up-where the hell is Jimmy?”

The door burst open and Roman glanced up, seeing six feet of redheaded energy coming directly towards him. He immediately left Naomi’s hold to press against Dean the moment he was close enough, rubbing his face against him, his chest, his face. He wanted to be covered in Dean’s scent, engulfed in it, he wanted Dean surrounding him in every way. 

“Roman-what happened, what-it’s not time for your heat-”

The door opened once again and Jimmy came in, the medics in tow. Naomi and Jey backed away, but Dean stayed with Roman, one hand cupping the back of his head and keeping him close. 

“Hey, we heard you were having some trouble-can you tell me what’s going on?”

Roman took a few deep breaths, following the pattern of Dean’s breathing, and he pulled away enough to answer questions. 

“I-I was j-just sitting-and I felt-it was like-heat-but-’m not s’posed to get heat for a-til September. Dunno-it hurts, it hurts I need  _ something _ -”

There was a flashlight shined in his eyes for a moment, and the doctor felt under his jaw and behind his ears and around his neck, gently prodding various spots. He sighed and frowned. 

“Roman, it is unusual that you’d be having a heat so far ahead of schedule-but….”

“What? Not really the time for obfuscating shit, Doc-”

Dean sounded strained. 

“Well-sometimes, after serious, life-changing incidents, like big traumatic events-they can trigger heats and ruts no matter where you are on your cycle. It usually takes a week or two after the incident in question for it to happen…”

Oh.

Well. That certainly made sense, even in Roman’s arousal-addled brain. 

“So-what do we-do we just treat it like any other heat-”

“Yes, that’s the only thing you can do. I’ll speak to-don’t worry. You guys can take some time off for now, so that you can….deal with this.”

There was a clear implication, and Roman honestly didn’t care. He just wanted a knot inside him. He wanted to be filled up and fucked and held close while it happened. He wanted an alpha-or fuck, some kind of toy, something to lock him and make the heat go away. Roman whined and pressed against Dean again, licking at his neck. He felt Dean shiver, smelling his arousal in the air around them. 

“Mm-Dean-wanna go home-”

“I-I’ll take you home, don’t w-worry-”

Dean’s voice was unusually shaky, and Roman didn’t want him to be upset or scared, so he-through his heat-muddy mind-did the only thing he could think to do when confronted with a worried alpha: he started purring, scenting Dean’s face. He made sure his beard rubbed against Dean’s cheeks, right where his scent glands were, doing everything he could to make sure Dean calmed down. 

“Home-please-”

“Jimmy, Jey, Naomi-can-fuck-can y’all help me get him in the car? Takin' him to a heat shelter.”

Roman felt hands on him-Jimmy and Naomi, while Jey got all their things together, and Roman yelped when he felt Dean just haul him up over his shoulder. Roman really lost track of what happened after that, at one point realizing through the haze and still-present pain that he had been put in the passenger seat of the car, that Jimmy and Jey were loading their bags into the car, and that Naomi was nowhere in sight. 

“Where-where did-”

Dean buckled him in and took a second to take a deep breath, not looking directly at Roman.

“Was-sent her back to the locker room cause-nng-fuck-’m gonna…..I’m gonna rut-”

Roman groaned, his knees spreading without any thought. He’d only seen an alpha rut once, but the thought that his sudden heat had triggered the alpha equivalent in Dean….it only turned him on more. He and Dean weren’t together; they’d had feelings for each other since first meeting in developmental-Roman, a fresh-faced and completely new wrestler, and Dean basically the seasoned veteran. They’d immediately bonded-hell, it had only helped that Dean had worked with Rosey, and Rosey had given his approval (the consequence of Roman being the only omega child in the household)-and had dove head-first into a friendship, which quickly became a best-friendship, with harbored romantic feelings under that. They’d talked about it pretty openly, and had come to the conclusion that, as the Shield had formed and they’d become major players in WWE, that it just wasn’t time for them. In part because they didn’t want to hurt Seth or make him feel like they didn’t care about him. Of course they had cared about him.

Past tense was imperative there.

Roman whined, his hips jerking, and he reached out towards Dean.

“Please-want-rut with me, please-”

Dean growled and got into the backseat. Jey got into the driver’s seat, taking a deep breath. Roman was a little worried about having another alpha so close while Dean was in rut, but he hoped that Dean could recognize the familial bond and that Jey wasn’t a threat. They’d never had any problems like that before with Dean and the twins, so it was likely to be okay, but Roman could only think about things other than the unbearable heat and wetness between his legs for so long. 

“We’ll be at the shelter soon, guys-”

Roman was finding it very difficult to not crawl into the backseat and ride Dean until he passed out, and he really, really needed to get to the damn shelter. Dean was quiet the entire ride, the only sounds in the car were Roman’s quiet whimpers and moans. The nearest heat shelter was fifteen minutes away, and Jey floored it the whole time. Once they got there, Roman was almost screaming from the pain. He needed relief so badly that he just accepted it when Dean pulled him out of the car and into a vacant cabin. He assumed Jey was bringing their things, but honestly he didn’t really care. He just wanted to be filled and fucked and knotted by his alpha.

Dean damn near threw him on the bed, tearing his own clothes off before doing the same to Roman, and he didn’t have to push Roman’s legs open, Roman did that on his own. 

“Please-”

Dean got on top of him, grabbing the side of Roman’s neck, staring down at him with heated blue eyes, and Roman sobbed, trying to push his hips up to meet Dean. 

“No-Ro-I-can we-I wanna mate-”

Roman sobbed again, reaching up and wrapping his arms around Dean’s neck, pulling him down to lick at his face.

“Yes-God yes-wanted-for years please-yours, I’m-yours-”

Dean lost control then, sliding his cock easily into Roman, neither of them caring that he was bare, and Roman’s mouth dropped open as Dean’s eyes rolled back in his head. He could already feel the swelling of Dean’s cock at the base, pressing against him as Dean started thrusting. It was so….he felt so full, the pain sucked out of him the very second that Dean penetrated him, his whole body soothing. He’d never really been properly seen through a heat by an alpha, but-God, he was happy that Dean was the one to do it. He was happy Dean was the one who was going to mate him, that they’d be connected forever after that in the most true, primal way. Roman had been honest, he’d wanted that for years. He and Dean had discussed even that, the night they confessed and laid out their feelings. 

It was finally about to happen, though it had been triggered in the worst possible way.

Dean kept pumping away at him, and Roman just let his body take over, reveling in the feelings and sensations flowing through him; Dean’s thick, hot cock thrusting in and out, filling him exactly how he needed, the tip pressing right up at the end of him, the swollen base slamming against him that would soon lock them together, Dean’s thin, lean body over him, covering him, Dean’s strong arms wrapped around Roman’s shoulders to keep him close. Though it wasn’t happening quite as Roman had always dreamed, it was what Roman had always wanted. A part of his head wanted to tell Dean that he loved him, because he did, but he couldn’t form words, not with the growing, building, drumming heat and fullness in his core. Roman could only let out quiet whimpers and moans, holding onto Dean as tight as he always did. 

It really wasn’t long before he felt himself come, over and over, squeezing around Dean, and shortly after that, he finally, finally felt Dean’s knot swell to its peak and push past his entrance, the muscles of his cunt tightening, both their bodies doing what they needed to be locked together, and then it happened. Dean bit sharply into the juncture of Roman’s neck and shoulder, right on the mating gland, and Roman reciprocated; his teeth sunk into the skin and he sucked, feeling the flood of pheromones almost immediately, and the feeling was….really indescribable. He was having more orgasms on Dean’s knot, he knew that, but the almost high feeling of trading mating fluid and those powerful hormones binding them on a physical level was unlike anything he’d ever felt before, and they stayed like that for a few minutes, sucking and licking each other’s glands until they were sure that the hormones were working through their bloodstreams. 

Roman couldn’t remember how long it actually was before he felt Dean move his mouth from him and his from Dean, but he did know he almost didn’t want that moment to end. He knew he was full, his stomach already a little distended from how much Dean had come in him. Roman was speechless; he had mated, with Dean Ambrose, his best friend and alpha and the person he loved most in the world. He squeezed his eyes shut as Dean licked at his face, grooming him gently to bring him down from the high.

Dean would likely be without words until his rut ran out, and Roman was fine with that, because Dean’s eyes were wide and fond and full of such an obvious love that Roman regretted not doing this sooner, ‘right time’ be damned. Roman took the grooming patiently, humming and purring when he felt Dean come in him more, his cunt squeezing tight around the thick, pulsing knot. For such a big moment, it was comfortable. Roman would have expected a grander feeling, and a feeling of grandness and change was there, but it was deeply and inherently comfortable, too. It felt very easy and very right to just be laying here, post-mating, with Dean. Once Dean had finished licking at him, bumping his nose against Roman’s cheek, Roman began doing the same to Dean. He licked over his cheeks and lips and forehead, making sure he was happy and clean and finally finishing, the two of them resting their foreheads against each other, rubbing and nosing and scenting each other.

They held each other, for a long time, Roman didn’t know how long. At multiple points, his phone went off, so did Dean’s, but like hell they were going to move from their position yet. He knew at one point they’d have to at least attend to getting food, but for now, they were exactly where they wanted and needed to be. 

\---

It was a full twenty-seven hours of mating and occasional bursts of sleep before Dean spoke again, and when he did, his face was buried against Roman’s neck, the two of them locked together by Dean’s knot, and Roman had to ask him to repeat himself.

“What was that?”

Dean lifted his head slightly, just enough for Roman to hear him.

“Shoulda done this forever ago.”

His voice was tired and sounded a little bit like he was going to cry, which he might-ruts were generally very overwhelming for alphas, even more so than heats were for omegas. Roman cupped the back of Dean’s head and held him close, resting his cheek against gorgeous, damp red curls, running his fingers through Dean’s hair.

“Maybe. You feeling okay?”

Dean mumbled out a ‘yes’, and Roman smiled. He didn’t really need clarification beyond that; he knew Dean was happy to have mated, and Roman wasn’t about to question that. He was happy to just hold his alpha, his lover, until Dean’s knot went down and he was able to pull out. He rolled off of Roman and onto his back, Roman following and wrapping himself around Dean as best he could. 

“Wanna order some food?”

Dean nodded, and Roman’s eyes felt droopy. He had been knotted ten times over the past day, and it was….tiring, as pleasant as it felt. 

“Go to sleep, Ro. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

“I’ll wake you up once there’s food.”

Roman nodded, his eyes already closed. 

\---

“This isn’t really a practical way to eat breakfast.”

“Do you care?”

Dean grinned and rocked his hips up, Roman clenching on his knot again and gasping.

“Not really. Don’t get syrup on me.”

Roman blushed deeply and smiled, leaning forward and kissing Dean deeply, before grabbing his plate. They had barely managed to get the food to the bed before Roman decided he needed to ride Dean until his knees ached. He rolled his hips and chewed on a mouthful of pancakes. It was a weird mix of sensations, really, eating while having Dean inside him, but it wasn’t unpleasant. Plus, he liked food, and he liked Dean, so it made sense that he’d enjoy both together. Dean was happily munching on oranges and his own pancakes and it was almost like any other breakfast that they shared, apart from when Dean would shiver as he shot more come into Roman, his pink lips, shiny with juice from the fruit he ate, parting and his eyes shutting, his face and chest ruddy from a blush.

Roman adored him. He was the most beautiful alpha on the planet, and he’d told Dean that multiple times over the past few days. 

The heat was finally working out the last of itself, Roman’s body returning to normal. Dean’s rut had run out after two days, the whole thing overall lasting four. Roman almost dreaded going back to work, seeing…..those people, who he’d rather not think about while eating delicious food and riding his lover’s warm, thick knot.

Roman did sigh, finally, swallowing and looking at Dean.

“I’m probably gonna get pregnant.”

Dean sighed, too, and nodded, chewing on what Roman was pretty sure was his tenth piece of bacon. 

“Probably. I know you’re on birth control, but…”

He reached up and rubbed a hand over Roman’s belly, swollen and heavy and full from Dean’s come.

“...don’t really know how much good that’s gonna do against all that.”

That did get a laugh out of Roman, and he blushed, leaning in and kissing Dean’s nose and cheekbones and eyebrows. 

“I love you. You’re right, I just….what are we gonna do, if that happens?”

“Buy a crib, I’d have to think.”

Roman set his plate down and frowned, moving off of Dean’s lap, now that he could, and sitting next to him. 

“You’d...be okay with that? Just-keeping it, and-having a family?”

“Of course. I’ve wanted to have a family with you for the past few years, Rome. I’m ready for it. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure we can do that.”

Roman was quiet for a long moment. He knew Dean was telling the whole, honest truth, and Roman did want the same thing, but...he also didn’t want either of them to give up their careers. It would be difficult to balance all that out, and he-Roman’s eyes went wide and he felt his heart race, staring at Dean. 

“What if the Authority-what if they try something-”

Dean didn’t hesitate to press two fingers to Roman’s mating scar, the action immediately soothing him, Roman ducking his head down, leaning forward and pressing his forehead against Dean’s shoulder.

“Hey, none of that. I’ll kill anyone that tries to hurt you or our kids, you know that.”

Roman nodded. He did know that, and he’d do the same to anyone who tried to hurt Dean or-

“Kids? Plural?”

He couldn’t help but smile, wide and unstoppable and happy, at the thought that Dean had already decided they were going to have more than one kid.   
“Damn right, plural. Your whole damn family has five kids per friggin’ household, I’m not falling behind.”

It made Roman laugh, and he calmed down, forgetting his worries about the Authority for the moment, happy to listen to Dean lay out his exact timeline for future pregnancies, now that they’d likely begun on the first one.

\---

The reaction backstage to their relationship and mating was, overall, a collective sigh of relief. 

Again, they’d never really hidden away from the fact that they loved each other in a non-platonic way, but evidently, everyone had decided that the arguments and altercations that Dean and Roman had gotten into over their time in the Shield was because they just really needed to fuck and get it out of their system. Roman and Dean had both just smiled and shrugged at the suggestion. They didn’t really argue anymore, not at this point. What was there to argue about? They were happy together, despite everything. 

They’d had to meet with Hunter and Stephanie, which….sucked. Hunter and Stephanie sucked, so of course that meeting had been filled with so much tension that Roman had actually had to go throw up after, but they got it over with and Hunter and Stephanie both seemed genuinely pleased and congratulatory of their mating, which really didn’t surprise Roman all that much, at least not with Hunter. Hunter had his own omega mate alongside with Stephanie as his beta wife, so he knew that he’d appreciate the bond Roman and Dean had formed. 

He still made them both go through horrible matches and a lot of bullshit, because he was a dick, but at least there was that. 

Roman did notice that Seth had either stayed away from them on his own or been kept away from them for at least two weeks, but Roman sure as hell didn’t mind that. He didn’t need Seth around stressing out his alpha. Pretty much everyone else, though, was very sweet towards them and very considerate of Roman post-mating, a few of the alphas backstage gently poking fun at Dean for rutting. It made Roman happy to see Dean joking around with them and not minding the teasing. He wanted his alpha to have friends. Dean deserved good friends. 

The omegas backstage had also become intent to gossip with Roman, particularly about Dean and the other alphas. He hadn’t given much away, other than showing the post-mating selfies Roman had taken that showed his stomach and how full his body had been, and  _ that _ had gotten quite a few gasps.

Roman had felt a little smug at that. His alpha was so virile, and now everyone knew it.

Life went on as usual, at least for a while, and it wasn’t until Roman started feeling sick all the time and sore in weird places that he realized it was time to go to the doctor and confirm his and Dean’s suspicions. 

Dean had actually been allowed to come with him, and Roman appreciated that the Authority at least wasn’t going to break the law here; while Roman thought some of the laws regarding alphas and omegas was outdated, he did appreciate that no employer could keep an alpha or omega from going with their mate to medical appointments and similar things. He didn’t really want to be doing this himself. 

And, if he was in fact going to be having a child, he wanted Dean to find out at the same time as him. 

The tests were quick and Roman almost felt like it all went by too fast, and the world definitely spun around him a little when the doctor came back in and told him that he was, for sure, pregnant. Though it helped that Dean had immediately hugged him tight, kissing all over his face and hair and beard and just generally trying to show him as much affection as possible. Roman’s initial feeling wasn’t even ‘worry’, it was….he couldn’t really find the word for it. There was a sort of excitement, that made him feel empty and buzzy and strange, but he also felt like crying, because he was going to start a family with the person he loved most in the world.

He immediately called his mom on the phone once he came back to himself. 

‘Roman? Hi, honey, what’s going on? You don’t usually call-’

“Mama, I-I-you know how Dean and I-we finally-”

‘Yes, I’m still thankful you spared me the details on that.’

Roman let out a weak laugh, his eyes brimming with tears, the nurse smiling softly at them.

“Yeah, I-Mama...me and Dean are at the doctor, and-I’m pregnant-”

A loud gasp rang through the phone and Roman felt Dean smile against his cheek, kissing him and rubbing his forehead against him. 

‘Are-you’re sure?’

“One-hundred percent. It’s-I’m about two months along, maybe a little under. I’m still gonna be working and stuff but no wrestling-”

‘I certainly hope not-’

Roman breathed out a shaky breath and felt the tears finally fall, and he just needed to cry for a minute because he was goddamn pregnant for the first time and that was a pretty overwhelming feeling.

‘Oh, baby. My sweet baby boy, I’m so proud of you-you need to come home as soon as possible so we can get you set up-’

Roman wiped at his eyes and smiled.

“I’ll-I’ll call you back, we’re gonna call Dean’s mom and sister-”

‘Of course, honey. I love you so, so much, and tell Dean I love him too.’

“I love you, Mama. I’ll call you again in a little while.”

Roman took a deep breath after he got off the phone, and he and Dean finally made their way out of the office and back to the car, and Dean dialed his mom’s number, his other hand holding onto Roman’s, and he put the phone on speaker.

‘Hey, Deano, how you doing?’

“Pretty-pretty good, Mom. Is Cora there?”

‘Oh-yeah, she is-Cora Beth! Come here, Dean needs you-’ 

‘Why doesn’t he just call me then-’

“Hush, I got something important to tell you guys-”

The two women on the other end of the line were silent and Dean took a deep breath. He looked hesitant, but Roman squeezed his hand, and Dean smiled. 

“Roman is pregnant. We’re-uh-there’s gonna be a little baby Ambrose running around-”

As Roman anticipated, their reactions were loud, as the Ambrose family usually was when they were celebrating, and he grinned, bringing Dean’s hand up to his mouth and kissing his knuckles. 

‘FINALLY! GRANDBABIES!’

‘I’m gonna spoil the shit out of your kid, I’m gonna be the best aunt EVER-’

Roman and Dean both laughed, and Dean quickly wiped at his eyes with his free hand. Roman squeezed his hand again, bringing it up to his mouth and kissing at his fingers while Dean’s mom and sister talked and asked questions and Dean answered them with a watery voice.

\---

Roman knew panic would be bad for the little bundle of cells currently growing inside him, but he couldn’t really help it as they made their way to Hunter’s office. The Authority hadn’t stopped being...terrible, and neither had Seth, and it had been especially terrible for Roman now that he knew he had a baby coming. He had told all of his opponents, even the ones tangential to the Authority, that they had to be careful around his middle and most of them understood why, and Roman had avoided Seth like the plague. Dean hadn’t, because Dean liked to beat Seth up, but Roman only felt more sick than usual whenever he was near. 

Dean stopped Roman and gently backed him against the wall, leaning in and scenting him all over his face, his scent glands pumping out pheromones that mixed with Roman’s, and Roman sighed, and almost melted to the ground when Dean pressed his fingers to Roman’s mating scar, rubbing two fingertips over the raised skin. 

“No matter what, you’ll be safe. The baby will be safe. I promise. If we have to quit, then we will.”

Roman nodded. They’d discussed this before, a few times; if the Authority was going to break any laws or put them through something terrible or risk Roman’s pregnancy, Dean and Roman would walk out of WWE and never come back. It wouldn’t be easy and it wouldn’t be fun, but there were other places they could work and be happy. Roman especially didn’t want to leave; he had a legacy here. Dean had come up in the indies, but WWE made Roman and made his family what they were. He would hate to think that a place so important to him could do something like risk the health of his baby. Roman leaned forward and kissed Dean very lightly on the lips, just a peck, and Dean smiled, his dimples pronounced and as adorable as always. They kept on their way to the office, taking a deep breath before knocking. 

“Come in.”

Hunter was expecting them, as they’d called him and scheduled a time to see him. Hunter and Stephanie were there, as was Kane, and-Seth. That sent another wave of nausea and panic through Roman, but Dean squeezed his hand and he squeezed back and hoped this went the way it needed to. 

“Hello. Have a seat. What was it you needed to see me about?”

Roman and Dean sat, stiff and trying to appear relaxed, though Roman had to keep a hand over his mouth. He felt like he’d throw up otherwise. 

“We-everyone knows that me and Roman mated recently-”

Roman noticed Seth’s angry look before Seth turned his head away. 

“-and...well...what you’d expect to happen during an unprotected mating happened.”

Shocked looks all around. Roman had trouble believing they hadn’t expected that as a possibility. Stephanie’s look morphed into anger, and Roman glanced at Seth-his shock was tinged with something Roman could almost designate as ‘hurt’. 

“You’re pregnant?”

Roman nodded.

“About two and a half months.”

“What in the world were you two thinking? You have a job to do-”

Stephanie was almost challenging them, Kane seemed...surprisingly unbothered by this information. He was just watching, ready to intervene, while Seth still looked hurt, his eyes increasingly wet. Hunter just looked thoughtful, leaning back in his chair. 

“Steph. Stop.”

She clearly didn’t want to, but did. 

“It’s...unfortunate, how the timing of that worked out. We had some big plans for both of you.”

Roman didn’t really want to know what those plans were.

“But the law is the law. Dean, you can continue working up until the last two months of Roman’s pregnancy. Roman, you can keep working outside of the ring. No physical spots after three months. I suppose we’ll just have to work around the plans we had.”

Roman wanted to be relieved. He couldn’t force the feeling into himself, and could tell that Dean couldn’t either, his hand held tight in Roman’s. 

“Have you been to a doctor?”

The question was surprising, coming from Kane. Dean and Roman looked at each other before Roman looked at the tall man. 

“Yes. He said everything is fine so far.”

Kane hummed and nodded. Stephanie still looked mad, but Hunter had a small smile on his face. 

“Make wise choices. When Shawn was pregnant with our first, he kept working until he started showing and put a lot at risk. I would suggest being careful.”

Dean bristled noticeably at that and Hunter held up his hands. 

“Calm down. Not a threat. Just speaking from experience.”

“You two can leave now. Roman, your match is canceled for tonight. We’ll...figure something out about the announcement.”

“Announcement?”

Stephanie sighed. 

“Whether we like it or not, you’re one of our biggest and most popular performers. We can’t just have you disappearing for a year with no explanation. You’ll have to make an announcement.”

Roman tensed. He had thought about that, but had hoped to avoid it. He didn’t want his business out in the world like that, not until he wanted it to be. He dropped his head, nodding. 

“Alright. I’ll-could I just make it tonight?”

“Yes. We’ll schedule it for where your match was.”

Roman nodded again, his head still down. He and Dean stood, leaving the office without many more words. Roman followed behind Dean by a few steps, feeling...still not very relieved, and somewhat dejected, not at all looking forward to what he had to do later. Dean stopped him and pulled him close, scenting him and nuzzling him. He kissed Roman once and then more and more, and Roman felt a little better, sighing and resting his head on Dean’s shoulder. Sometimes he forgot how tall Dean really was. Roman thought to himself that their child would probably grow up to be very tall. 

“It’ll be okay, Rome. We’ll get through tonight and then-we’ll go home for a week and get you set up in Tampa and start figuring out nursery stuff-you won’t have to think about any of this. I promise. I love you-I love you.”

Roman smiled. He felt like he could always smile with Dean. He sighed again and nodded, hiding his face against his alpha’s chest.

“I love you more. I-I know it’ll be okay, having to talk to them-it just freaked me out. I wasn’t-I didn’t think he would be there-”

“I tried to ignore that.”

“I know you did. I’m happy that it-guess it went okay. Can we go find someplace to rest? I’m still pretty tired, and-I need to figure out what I’m gonna say tonight.”

Dean inhaled against Roman’s hair, deeply and fully and filling his lungs with Roman’s scent, and that really made Roman feel good. 

“Come on. There’s a couch in one of these rooms I saw earlier. You should get some sleep before going out there tonight.”

Roman walked alongside Dean, holding hands with his alpha, finally calming down from the meeting and focusing on the future.

\---

Roman couldn’t ever really describe the feeling of standing in front of the crowds like this. The way they reacted, the feeling of all those eyes, knowing some of them looked up to him...it was so much, every time. Roman smiled, swallowing and trying to gather himself. He’d figured out what he would say earlier, Dean helping him, and he figured it would be best to keep it short and positive. 

“I’ve never taken a lot of time away from the ring, because I love being here-even with my problems with the Authority, what happened with the Shield-I love being here more than anything else. I love being here with all of you, more than anything.”

So far, so good. The crowd cheered along with that, and Roman stared down at the ring for a moment. 

“But as much as I love being here, and as much as I love-everything about this, and would do this every day if I could-something...came up, and-I don’t know how to say this other than to just say it: I’m pregnant.”

A hush over the arena, before applause and cheers. He couldn’t hear one boo or negative reaction, and he looked around at the faces in the crowd; kids with dropped jaws, people of all ages cheering, a few parents looking particularly happy, a few wolf-whistles that brought a grin to Roman’s face. He should have expected that, but it was still funny. 

“I-I’ve never been as happy as I am now, with this-”

Roman only just realized he’d had his hand on his stomach, unconsciously, and he rubbed at the slight pudge, imagining how big he’d get in the coming months. 

“-my mate and I feel so, so blessed, and of course I feel blessed to be able to share this with all of you, for you all to support me, and to know that in about a year, I’ll be able to come back and perform for all of you again. I-”

Loud drums and a voice screaming ‘burn it down’ interrupted him and Roman froze, staring as Seth made his way to the ring-unaccompanied, that was odd-quickly and with his eyes squarely on Roman. He got into the ring and stood in front of Roman, too close, but not as close as he used to. Roman’s heart rate was high and he turned his body slightly away, one arm protectively held over his midsection. 

“Why-what do you want?”

He was supposed to be out here by himself, just to make the announcement, shake some hands, then leave. Seth wasn’t supposed to be here. He looked at the younger man, unable to read his face.

“A few months ago-a few months ago, we were-”

Seth wasn’t usually so lost for words. Roman frowned, still tense and anxious.

“-we were-you and me and Dean were family. We-we came up together and-”

“And you hit me in the back with a chair until I almost couldn’t feel my arms.”

Roman hadn’t expected his voice to sound so cold, but a little of that ice chipped away at the way Seth’s face opened, his eyes wide and wet. He looked so young, like he had when Roman had first met him. 

“Yeah. I did. I-I hit you with that chair and then I hit Dean and I burned down the home I had in the Shield-but you two-you two stayed together and-”

Silence in the ring. The crowd booing and cheering. Roman stared at Seth. 

“-and I don’t have anyone.”

Roman tilted his head a little. 

“You have the Authority. You have a whole new big family. Me and Dean only have each other and-and this.”

He gestured at his stomach, Seth glancing down and swallowing. 

“I-Roman-”

His voice broke on Roman’s name and Roman had to force away the tiny part of him that wanted to comfort Seth. 

“-I didn’t-I made a lot of mistakes and I-I knew I was the one keeping you two apart-I thought neither of you cared about me and hated me-I was in the way-”

“Whoa-whoa, hold on-what-you weren’t ‘in the way’-”

This was not the conversation Roman expected to have tonight. He was shocked no one had come and pulled Seth backstage for interrupting and saying things like this. 

“-you-we didn’t want to lose you. We-you were my friend and brother and I loved you, but you wanted something else. You wanted to be the big famous star and you broke the Shield, but me and Dean never once thought you were a burden or something-neither of us ever hated you, why would you think that?”

Seth’s lips wobbled. 

“Cause I’m a worse person than you two are.”

Roman’s lips parted in a quiet gasp. Seth’s eyes were wet, tears gathered right at the corners. 

“I-I figured you two would feel how I’d feel if I were in your shoes-I thought if I was with the Authority, then-I wouldn’t be messing up your lives anymore-I didn’t know it would happen like it did and then it was too late-”

Seth had to stop and wipe at his eyes, and Roman watched, feeling a pain he didn’t want to think about. Seth sniffled and Roman wished he could trust him like he used to. 

“I-I wanted to come out here-I just wanted to say-I’m...sorry. I’m sorry for what I did-for breaking up our family, and-for hurting you both like I did.”

Roman swallowed, his own eyes and voice wet. 

“You know what they’re going to do to you now, don’t you?”

Seth nodded.

“I don’t-I don’t care. Making things right-trying to make things right with you was more important to me than-the Authority can do whatever they want to me. I don’t care.”

“I don’t...know if me or Dean can-if we can be-if we can trust you again so soon, but-thank you.”

Seth nodded, and he held his hand out, his eyes still dripping tears. Roman stared down at the outstretched hand, taking a deep breath, preparing himself for an attack-and he saw a blur of pale skin and red hair running into the ring and stepping between himself and Seth. He had wondered about what Dean was doing, and from the sweat on his skin, he assumed that there had been some altercation before he came out. Dean took the microphone that Roman held out to him. 

“I don’t care how much you apologize-stay away from Roman-”   
“Dean-please, I know-”

“You don’t know a damn thing-”

Dean’s voice had taken on a quality it rarely did, and Roman reached out, gently wrapping his fingers around one of Dean’s wrists. Dean turned to look at him and Roman was handed another microphone by a stagehand. 

“Dean...we should listen to him. Just to-we were a family, one way or another, can’t we at least hear what he has to say?”

Dean softened, though he clearly didn’t want to, and he glared at Seth, but nodded. 

“Fine. You have one minute.”

Seth looked scared and a little panicky and he looked between Dean and Roman a few times. 

“I-I-Dean-I don’t know what to say but ‘I’m sorry’, I-you two meant the world to me and knowing that you guys have...what you have-I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Dean, Roman, please believe me-”

The Authority’s music hit. Roman almost jumped at the sudden noise, but he, Dean, and Seth all stared as Hunter, Stephanie, Kane, and J&J Security came out. Dean stood in front of Roman, and Roman, for the first time, felt scared at the thought of the Authority. 

“I’m not sure what you think you’re doing out here, Seth, but you need to come down here and go back to my office now.”

Hunter was mad, and Roman could see Seth’s hands shaking. 

“No.”

Seth’s voice wasn’t confident but he still said it, and Roman felt a spark of hope in his core. 

“Seth-remember who gave you everything you have-”

“I do remember. I remember being in NXT and you telling me I was special. I remember meeting two guys who I knew were gonna change things here-I remember them taking me in and the three of us becoming more than what we were individually-if anyone here gave me everything, it wasn’t you. It was the Shield.”

“You need to watch what you say. I’m willing to assume this is just high emotions, you know you get emotional because of your status-”

Seth, Dean, and Roman all froze, until Dean stepped in front of Seth, the same protective stance he had in front of Roman still present. 

“Shut your goddamn mouth, you son of a bitch-”

Roman walked up and stood next to Seth, quickly bumping his arm. Seth had always wanted to keep his being trans-status a secret, and Roman didn’t blame him, and even with his complicated feelings towards Seth, he wasn’t about to stand by and let Hunter expose that to the world, and Dean apparently felt the same way.

“Why is it always you three causing problems?”

“We’re good at it.”

“Seth-you still have a chance. Remember what we can do for you.”

Seth shook his head. 

“It’s not-nothing you can do for me is worth knowing I lost my family for it.”

Dean walked backwards until he was on Roman’s other side, and Roman looked at both of the men at his sides. Roman stared down the Authority from where they stood at the ring apron. 

“You tried to destroy our family once. It’s not happening again.”

J&J and Kane all stepped onto the ring apron, and Dean held an arm out in front of Roman.

“We don’t appreciate that attitude.”

Roman looked to Dean. He looked to Seth. He didn’t have to give any order before the three of them jumped the three men on the apron, completely in sync. It was quick and fast and Roman was a little breathless from adrenaline and the idea that maybe-maybe their family still had one more in it. They stepped back, Hunter and Stephanie’s faces shocked and angry, and Roman held his fist out. 

Dean looked at him, hesitant and questioning and Roman hoped the look in his eyes answered everything Dean was questioning. It must have, as Dean’s hand joined his, and they both looked at Seth. His expression was one of disbelief and underlying trust, and he looked into Roman’s eyes and then Dean’s, and held his still-shaky fist out alongside Roman’s. There was a riotous, deafening roar from the crowd, and Roman couldn’t even pay attention to the cheers and chants of ‘hounds of justice’, thinking only about how there was a real chance that his family was back together.

\---

Seth was staring, not so subtly-certainly not as subtly as he wanted to be-at Roman’s stomach. Roman rolled his eyes, a small smile on his lips. 

“Come here.”

Seth blinked, but did, and Roman leaned forward and scented him, Seth almost immediately purring and responding, the two of them trading scents for the first time in months. Seth was blushing and smiling when he pulled away. 

“I want your scent to be one of the ones the baby knows to trust.”

Dean was only just stepping out of the shower, in nothing but gym shorts, and Roman took a second to stare appreciatively at his alpha. He was so stunning and strong and Roman purred happily when Dean came to sit with him on the bed. 

After what had happened that night, Seth, Dean, and Roman had all busted ass to get out of the arena. Roman hadn’t been sure if Dean would be okay with Seth coming with them, but he hadn’t objected when Roman rushed Seth into the car. They were now sitting in the hotel room, as Seth’s had been booked by the Authority and none of them were trusting of anything having to do with their bosses. Dean still hadn’t spoken much to Seth, but Roman expected that. He didn’t expect for those two to fix their friendship immediately, but the hope that it would happen to at least some degree before the baby was born. Roman and Dean laid down on one side of the bed, and Seth laid on the other. The three of them had shared beds before, this wasn’t unusual, at least...before what happened had happened, it hadn’t been unusual. 

It really was a strange situation. 

But as they laid there, watching tv and Roman was wrapped up in Dean’s arms and Seth was slowly opening back up more and more, it felt more right than anything had since Roman had mated Dean. 


End file.
